DEPARTMENT OF MANAGED HEALTH CARE DIVISION OF PLAN SURVEYS 1115 WAIVER SURVEY TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GUIDE ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY ROUTINE MEDICAL SURVEY OF PLAN NAME DATE OF SURVEY: PLAN COPY Issuance of this February 11, 2015 Technical Assistance Guide renders all other versions obsolete.
Access and Availability of Services Requirements TABLE OF CONTENTS Requirement : The Health Plan Ensures the Availability of Primary Care Services 2 Requirement AA-002: The Health Plan Ensures the Availability of Specialist Services... 13 Requirement AA-003: The Health Plan Ensures the Availability of Urgent Care Services.. 23 Requirement AA-004: The Health Plan Ensures the Availability of After Hours Care.... 29 Requirement AA-005: The Health Plan Ensures the Availability of Emergency Services... 33 Requirement AA-006: The Health Plan has Implemented Policies and Procedures for Addressing a Patient s Request for Disability Accommodations... 38
Requirement : The Health Plan Ensures the Availability of Primary Care Services CONTRACT/STATUTORY/REGULATORY CITATIONS DHCS Two-Plan and GMC Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 6 Provider Network 3. Provider to Member Ratios A. Contractor shall ensure that networks continuously satisfy the following full-time equivalent provider to Member ratios: 1) Primary Care Physicians 1:2,000 2) Total Physicians 1:1,200 B. If Non-Physician Medical Practitioners are included in Contractor's provider network, each individual Non-Physician Medical Practitioner shall not exceed a full-time equivalent provider/patient caseload of one provider per 1,000 patients. 8. Time and Distance Standard Contractor shall maintain a network of Primary Care Physicians which are located within thirty (30) minutes or ten (10) miles of a Member's residence unless the Contractor has a DHCS approved alternative time and distance standard. DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 6 Provider Network 2. Provider to Member Ratios A. Contractor shall ensure that networks continuously satisfy the following full-time equivalent provider to Member ratios: 1) Primary Care Physicians 1:2,000 2) Total Physicians 1:1,200 B. If Non-Physician Medical Practitioners are included in Contractor's provider network, each individual Non-Physician Medical Practitioner shall not exceed a full-time equivalent provider/patient caseload of one (1) provider per 1,000 patients. 7. Time and Distance Standard Contractor shall maintain a network of Primary Care Physicians that are located within 30 minutes or ten (10) miles of a Member's residence unless the Contractor has a DHCS approved alternative time and distance standard. DHCS Two-Plan and GMC Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 9 Access and Availability 1. General Requirement Contractor shall ensure that each Member has a Primary Care Provider who is available and physically present at the service site for sufficient time to ensure access for the assigned Member when medically required. This requirement does not preclude an appropriately licensed professional from being a substitute for the Primary Care Provider in the event of vacation, illness, or other unforeseen circumstances. Contractor shall ensure Members access to specialists for Medically Necessary Covered Services. Contractor shall ensure adequate staff within the Service Area, including physicians, administrative and other support staff directly and/or through Subcontracts, sufficient to assure that health services ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 2
will be provided in accordance with Title 22 CCR Section 53853(a) and consistent with all specified requirements. 3. Access Requirements Contractor shall establish acceptable accessibility requirements in accordance with Title 28 CCR Section 1300.67.2.1 and as specified below. DHCS will review and approve requirements for reasonableness. Contractor shall communicate, enforce, and monitor providers compliance with these requirements. A. Appointments Contractor shall implement and maintain procedures for Members to obtain appointments for routine care, urgent care, routine specialty referral appointments, prenatal care, children s preventive periodic health assessments, and adult initial health assessments. Contractor shall also include procedures for follow-up on missed appointments. B. First Prenatal Visit Contractor shall ensure that the first prenatal visit for a pregnant Member will be available within two (2) weeks upon request. C. Waiting Times Contractor shall develop, implement, and maintain a procedure to monitor waiting times in the providers' offices, telephone calls (to answer and return), and time to obtain various types of appointments indicated in Paragraph A. Appointments, above. 4. Access Standards Contractor shall ensure the provision of acceptable accessibility standards in accordance with Title 28 CCR Section 1300.67.2.2 and as specified below. Contractor shall communicate, enforce, and monitor providers compliance with these standards. A. Appropriate Clinical Timeframes Contractor shall ensure that Members are offered appointments for covered health care services within a time period appropriate for their condition. B. Standards for Timely Appointments Members must be offered appointments within the following timeframes: 1. Urgent care appointment for services that do not require prior authorization within 48 hours of a request; 2. Urgent appointment for services that do require prior authorization within 96 hours of a request; 3. Non-urgent primary care appointments within ten (10) business days of request; 4. Appointment with a specialist within 15 business days of request; 5. Non-urgent appointment for ancillary services for the diagnosis or treatment of injury, illness, or other health condition within 15 business days of request. C. Shortening or Expanding Timeframes Timeframes may be shortened or extended as clinically appropriate by a qualified health care professional acting within the scope of his or her practice consistent with professionally recognized standards of practice. If the timeframe is extended, it must be documented within the Member s medical record that a longer timeframe will not have a detrimental impact on the Member s health. D. Provider Shortage ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 3
Contractor shall arrange for a Member to receive timely care as necessary for their health condition if timely appointments within the time and distance standards required in Attachment 6, Provision 8 of this contract are not available. Contractor shall refer Members to, or assist Members in locating, available and accessible contracted providers in neighboring service areas for obtaining health care services in a timely manner appropriate for the Member s needs. 16. Out-of-Network Providers A. If Contractor s network is unable to provide necessary services covered under the Contract to a particular Member, Contractor must adequately and timely cover these services out of network for the Member, for as long as the entity is unable to provide them. Out-ofnetwork providers must coordinate with the entity with respect to payment. Contractor must ensure that cost to the Member is not greater than it would be if the services were furnished within the network. DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 9 Access and Availability 1. General Requirement Contractor shall ensure that each Member has a Primary Care Provider who is available and physically present at the service site for sufficient time to ensure access for the assigned Member to the Primary Care Provider. This requirement does not preclude an appropriately licensed professional from being a substitute for the Primary Care Provider in the event of vacation, illness, or other unforeseen circumstances. Contractor shall ensure Members access to Specialists for Medically Necessary Covered Services. Contractor shall ensure adequate staff within the Service Area, including Physicians, administrative and other support staff directly and/or through Subcontracts, sufficient to assure that health services will be provided in accordance with this Contract and applicable law. 3. Access Requirements Contractor shall establish acceptable accessibility standards in accordance with Title 28 CCR Section 1300.67.2 and as specified below. DHCS will review and approve standards for reasonableness. Contractor shall ensure that Contracting Providers offer hours of operation similar to commercial Members or comparable to Medi-Cal FFS, if the provider serves only Medi-Cal Members. Contractor shall communicate, enforce, and monitor providers compliance with these standards. A. Appointments Contractor shall implement and maintain procedures for Members to obtain appointments for routine care, Urgent Care, routine specialty referral appointments, prenatal care, children s preventive periodic health assessments, and adult initial health assessments. Contractor shall also include procedures for follow-up on missed appointments. (1) Appropriate Clinical Timeframes: Contractor shall ensure that Members are offered appointments for covered health care services within a time period appropriate for their condition. (2) Standards for Timely Appointments: Members must be offered appointments within the following timeframes: a) Urgent care appointment for services that do not require prior authorization within 48 hours of a request; ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 4
b) Urgent appointment for services that do require prior authorization within 96 hours of a request; c) Non-urgent primary care appointments within ten (10) business days of request; d) Appointment with a specialist within 15 business days of request; e) Non-urgent appointment for ancillary services for the diagnosis or treatment of injury, illness, or other health condition within 15 business days of request. (3) Shortening or Expanding Timeframes Timeframes may be shortened or extended as clinically appropriate by a qualified health care professional acting within the scope of his or her practice consistent with professionally recognized standards of practice. If the timeframe is extended, it must be documented within the Member s medical record that a longer timeframe will not have a detrimental impact on the Member s health. (4) Provider Shortage Contractor shall be required to arrange for a Member to receive timely care as necessary for their health condition if timely appointments within the time and distance standards required in Attachment 6, Provision 8 of this contract are not available. Contractor shall refer Members to, or assist Members in locating, available and accessible contracted providers in neighboring service areas for obtaining health care services in a timely manner. C. Waiting Times Contractor shall develop, implement, and maintain a procedure to monitor waiting times in the providers' offices, telephone calls (to answer and return), and time to obtain various types of appointments indicated in subparagraph A. Appointments, above. 16. Out-of-Network Providers A. If Contractor s network is unable to provide necessary medical services covered under the contract to a particular Member, Contractor must adequately and timely cover these services out of network for the Member, for as long as the entity is unable to provide them. Out-of-network providers must coordinate with the entity with respect to payment. Contractor must ensure that cost to the Member is no greater than it would be if the services were furnished within the network. DHCS Two-Plan Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 13 Member Services 4. Written Member Information D. Contractor shall develop and provide each Member, or family unit, a Member Services Guide that constitutes a fair disclosure of the provisions of the covered health care services. The Member Services Guide shall be submitted to DHCS for review prior to distribution to Members. The Member Services Guide shall include the following information: DHCS GMC Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 13 Member Services 4. Written Member Information D. The Member Services Guide shall be submitted to DHCS for review prior to distribution to Members. The Member Services Guide shall meet the requirements of an Evidence of Coverage and Disclosure Form (EOC/DF) as provided in 22 CCR 53920.5, 28 CCR 1300.51(d) and its Exhibit T (EOC) or U (Combined EOC/DF). In addition, the Member Services Guide shall meet the requirements contained in Health and Safety Code Section 1363, and 28 CCR 1300.63(a), as to print size, readability, and understandability of text, and shall include the following information: ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 5
DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 13 Member Services 4. Written Member Information D. The Member Services Guide shall be submitted to DHCS for review prior to distribution to Members. The Member Services Guide shall meet the requirements of an Evidence of Coverage and Disclosure Form (EOC/DF) as provided in Title 28 CCR Sections 1300.51(d) and its Exhibit T (EOC) or U (Combined EOC/DF), if applicable. In addition, the Member Services Guide shall meet the requirements contained in Health and Safety Code Section 1363, and Title 28 CCR Section 1300.63(a), as to print size, readability, and understandability of text, and shall include the following information: 28 CCR 1300.67.2(a), (d), and (f) Within each service area of a plan, basic health care services and specialized health care services shall be readily available and accessible to each of the plan's enrollees; (a) The location of facilities providing the primary health care services of the plan shall be within reasonable proximity of the business or personal residences of enrollees, and so located as to not result in unreasonable barriers to accessibility. (d) The ratio of enrollees to staff, including health professionals, administrative and other supporting staff, directly or through referrals, shall be such as to reasonably ensure that all services offered by the plan will be accessible to enrollees on an appropriate basis without delays detrimental to the health of the enrollees. There shall be at least one full-time equivalent physician to each one thousand two hundred (1,200) enrollees and there shall be approximately one full-time equivalent primary care physician for each two thousand (2,000) enrollees, or an alternative mechanism shall be provided by the plan to demonstrate an adequate ratio of physicians to enrollees. (f) Each health care service plan shall have a documented system for monitoring and evaluating accessibility of care, including a system for addressing problems that develop, which shall include, but is not limited to, waiting time and appointments. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.1(a) and (b) Subject to subsections (a) and (b) of this section, a plan may rely, for the purposes of satisfying the requirements for geographic accessibility, on the standards of accessibility set forth in Item H of Section 1300.51 and in Section 1300.67.2. (a) If, given the facts and circumstances with regard to any portion of its service area, a plan's standards of accessibility adopted pursuant to Item H of Section 1300.51 and/or Section 1300.67.2 are unreasonably restrictive, or the service area is within a county with a population of 500,000 or fewer, and is within a county that, as of January 1, 2002, has two or fewer full service health care service plans in the commercial market, the plan may propose alternative standards of accessibility for that portion of its service area. The plan shall do so by including such alternative standards in writing in its plan license application or in a notice of material modification. The plan shall also include a description of the reasons justifying the less restrictive standards based on those facts and circumstances. If the Department rejects the plan's proposal, the Department shall inform the plan of the Department's reason for doing so. (b) If, in its review of a plan license application or a notice of material modification, the Department believes the accessibility standards set forth in Item H of Section 1300.51 and/or Section 1300.67.2 are insufficiently prescribed or articulated or are inappropriate given the facts and circumstances with regard to a portion of a plan's service area, the Department shall inform the plan that the Department will not allow application of those standards to that portion of the plan's ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 6
service area. The Department shall also inform the plan of the Department's reasons for rejecting the application of those standards. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(a)(1) (a) Application 1. All health care service plans that provide or arrange for the provision of hospital or physician services, including specialized mental health plans that provide physician or hospital services, or that provide mental health services pursuant to a contract with a full service plan, shall comply with the requirements of this section. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(b)(1)-(2) (b) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply. 1. Advanced access means the provision, by an individual provider, or by the medical group or independent practice association to which an enrollee is assigned, of appointments with a primary care physician, or other qualified primary care provider such as a nurse practitioner or physician s assistant, within the same or next business day from the time an appointment is requested, and advance scheduling of appointments at a later date if the enrollee prefers not to accept the appointment offered within the same or next business day. 2. Appointment waiting time means the time from the initial request for health care services by an enrollee or the enrollee s treating provider to the earliest date offered for the appointment for services inclusive of time for obtaining authorization from the plan or completing any other condition or requirement of the plan or its contracting providers. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(c)(1)-(5) (c) Standards for Timely Access to Care. (1) Plans shall provide or arrange for the provision of covered health care services in a timely manner appropriate for the nature of the enrollee s condition consistent with good professional practice. Plans shall establish and maintain provider networks, policies, procedures and quality assurance monitoring systems and processes sufficient to ensure compliance with this clinical appropriateness standard. (2) Plans shall ensure that all plan and provider processes necessary to obtain covered health care services, including but not limited to prior authorization processes, are completed in a manner that assures the provision of covered health care services to enrollees in a timely manner appropriate for the enrollee s condition and in compliance with the requirements of this section. (3) When it is necessary for a provider or an enrollee to reschedule an appointment, the appointment shall be promptly rescheduled in a manner that is appropriate for the enrollee s health care needs, and ensures continuity of care consistent with good professional practice, and consistent with the objectives of Section 1367.03 of the Act and the requirements of this section. (4) Interpreter services required by Section 1367.04 of the Act and Section 1300.67.04 of Title 28 shall be coordinated with scheduled appointments for health care services in a manner that ensures the provision of interpreter services at the time of the appointment. This subsection does not modify the requirements established in Section 1300.67.04, or approved by the Department pursuant to Section 1300.67.04 for a plan s language assistance program. (5) In addition to ensuring compliance with the clinical appropriateness standard set forth at subsection (c)(1), each plan shall ensure that its contracted provider network has adequate capacity ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 7
and availability of licensed health care providers to offer enrollees appointments that meet the following timeframes: (A) Urgent care appointments for services that do not require prior authorization: within 48 hours of the request for appointment, except as provided in (G); (B) Urgent care appointments for services that require prior authorization: within 96 hours of the request for appointment, except as provided in (G); (C) Non-urgent appointments for primary care: within ten business days of the request for appointment, except as provided in (G) and (H); (D) Non-urgent appointments with specialist physicians: within fifteen business days of the request for appointment, except as provided in (G) and (H); (E) Non-urgent appointments with a non-physician mental health care provider: within ten business days of the request for appointment, except as provided in (G) and (H); (F) Non-urgent appointments for ancillary services for the diagnosis or treatment of injury, illness, or other health condition: within fifteen business days of the request for appointment, except as provided in (G) and (H); (G) The applicable waiting time for a particular appointment may be extended if the referring or treating licensed health care provider, or the health professional providing triage or screening services, as applicable, acting within the scope of his or her practice and consistent with professionally recognized standards of practice, has determined and noted in the relevant record that a longer waiting time will not have a detrimental impact on the health of the enrollee; (H) Preventive care services, as defined at subsection (b)(3), and periodic follow up care, including but not limited to, standing referrals to specialists for chronic conditions, periodic office visits to monitor and treat pregnancy, cardiac or mental health conditions, and laboratory and radiological monitoring for recurrence of disease, may be scheduled in advance consistent with professionally recognized standards of practice as determined by the treating licensed health care provider acting within the scope of his or her practice; and (I) A plan may demonstrate compliance with the primary care time-elapsed standards established by this subsection through implementation of standards, processes and systems providing advanced access to primary care appointments, as defined at subsection (b)(1). 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(c)(7) (7) Plans shall ensure they have sufficient numbers of contracted providers to maintain compliance with the standards established by this section. (A) This section does not modify the requirements regarding provider-to-enrollee ratio or geographic accessibility established by Sections 1300.51, 1300.67.2 or 1300.67.2.1 of Title 28. (B) A plan operating in a service area that has a shortage of one or more types of providers shall ensure timely access to covered health care services as required by this section, including applicable time-elapsed standards, by referring enrollees to, or, in the case of a preferred provider network, by assisting enrollees to locate, available and accessible contracted providers in neighboring service areas consistent with patterns of practice for obtaining health care services in a timely manner appropriate for the enrollee s health needs. Plans shall arrange for the provision of specialty services from specialists outside the plan s contracted network if unavailable within the network, when medically necessary for the enrollee s condition. Enrollee costs for medically necessary referrals to non-network providers shall not exceed applicable co-payments, coinsurance and deductibles. This requirement does not prohibit a plan or its delegated provider ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 8
group from accommodating an enrollee s preference to wait for a later appointment from a specific contracted provider. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(d)(2)(A) (d) Quality Assurance Processes. Each plan shall have written quality assurance systems, policies and procedures designed to ensure that the plan s provider network is sufficient to provide accessibility, availability and continuity of covered health care services as required by the Act and this section. In addition to the requirements established by Section 1300.70 of Title 28, a plan s quality assurance program shall address: (2) Compliance monitoring policies and procedures, filed for the Department s review and approval, designed to accurately measure the accessibility and availability of contracted providers, which shall include: (A) Tracking and documenting network capacity and availability with respect to the standards set forth in subsection (c). INDIVIDUAL(S)/POSITION(S) TO BE INTERVIEWED Staff responsible for the activities described above, for example: Director of Contracting or Provider Relations QI Director DOCUMENTS TO BE REVIEWED Standards for geographic distribution of Primary Care Providers (PCPs) o Include approved alternative standards, if applicable Standards for ratio of PCPs to enrollees o Include approved alternative standards, if applicable DMHC Network Assessment reports, previous four quarters Policies and procedures to periodically review and update network adequacy standards Policies and procedures for addressing identified network inadequacies Minutes of committee meetings where provider network data is reviewed Procedures describing how the Plan monitors and ensures compliance with standards and assures contracting providers have capacity to accept new patients Member or Customer Service information available to facilitate access to PCP services Standards for PCP appointment wait time and in-office wait time - Key Element 1: 1. The Plan has established a standard for geographic distribution of primary care providers. DHCS Two-Plan and GMC Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 6 Provider Network, Provision 8; DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 6 Provider Network, Provision 7; DHCS Two-Plan, GMC, and COHS Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 9 ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 9
Access and Availability, Provision 1; DHCS Two-Plan, GMC, and COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 13 Member Services, Provision 4(D); 28 CCR 1300.67.2.1(a) 1.1 Does the Plan have an established standard on geographic distribution of PCPs? 1.2 Does the Plan have a network of PCPs that are located within 30 minutes or 10 miles of a member s residence? DHCS Two-Plan and GMC Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 6, Provision 8; DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 6, Provision 7 1.3 If the answer to Assessment Question 1.2 is no, then has the Plan established an alternative standard? 1.4 If the Plan has established an alternative standard, then has this standard been submitted to and approved by the DHCS? - Key Element 2: 2. The Plan has established a standard for the ratio of PCPs to enrollees within the service area. DHCS Two-Plan and GMC Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 6 Provider Network, Provision 3(A); DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 6 Provider Network, Provision 2(A); DHCS Two-Plan, GMC, and COHS Contracts Attachment 9 Access and Availability Provision 1; 28 CCR 1300.67.2(a) and (d) 2.1 Does the Plan have an established standard on the ratio of PCPs to enrollees? 2.2 Does the Plan s standard provide for at least one PCP for each 2,000 enrollees? 2.3 If the answer to Assessment Question 2.2 is no, then has the Plan established an alternative standard? 2.4 If the Plan has established an alternative standard, then has this standard been submitted to and approved by the DHCS? - Key Element 3: 3. The Plan has established a mechanism that ensures that primary health care services are reasonably accessible to all members. DHCS Two-Plan and GMC Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 9 Access and Availability, Provisions 1, 3, 4, and 16(A); DHCS COHS Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 9 Access and Availability, Provisions 1, 3(A)(1)-(4), and 16(A); 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(a)(1), (c)(5)(c), (c)(7), and (d)(2)(a) ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 10
3.1 Does the Plan have mechanisms to ensure reasonable access to primary health care services for all members? 3.2 Does the Plan ensure they have sufficient numbers of contracted providers to maintain compliance with established standards? 3.3 If the Plan operates in a service area that has a shortage of PCPs, does the Plan refer enrollees to or assist enrollees with locating available and accessible contracted providers in neighboring service areas? 3.4 Does the Plan develop and distribute materials that explain: How to obtain primary care services; and Timely access standards for PCPs? 3.5 Does the Plan ensure that delegated entities inform enrollees how to obtain primary care services? 3.6 Does the Plan ensure that delegated entities inform enrollees of the appointment standards for non-urgent primary care services? 3.7 Does the Plan monitor the delegated entity s accessibility reports regarding primary care services? 3.8 Does the Plan have a Member Services Guide with the information necessary to accurately assist enrollees in obtaining information about benefits, providers, coverage, and any other relevant information concerning an enrollee s access to primary care services? Attachment 13, Member Services, Provision 4(D) - Key Element 4: 4. Each health care service plan shall have a documented system for monitoring and evaluating accessibility of primary care, including a system for addressing waiting time, appointment availability and other problems that may develop. DHCS Two-Plan and GMC Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 9 Access and Availability, Provision 3(A) and 4(A)(B); DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 9 Access and Availability, Provision 3(A)-(C); 28 CCR 1300.67.2(f); 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(b)(2), (c)(1)-(7), and (d) 4.1 Does the Plan rely on systems that provide advanced access to primary care appointments? 4.2 Does the Plan have a documented system for monitoring and evaluating access to care, including waiting time and appointments? ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 11
4.3 Does the Plan monitor the rescheduling of appointments to: Assure it is prompt; Assure it is in a manner appropriate for the member s health care needs; and To ensure continuity of care? 4.4 Does the Plan s monitoring program track and document network capacity and availability with respect to timely access regulations? 4.5 Does the Plan offer its members non-urgent primary care appointments within ten (10) business days of request? DHCS Two-Plan Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 9, Provision 4(B)(3); DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 9, Access and Availability, Provision 3(A)(2)(c); Rule 1300.67.2.2 4.6 Does the Plan monitor compliance with the requirement that the first pre-natal visit will be available within 10 business days upon request? 4.7 Does the Plan evaluate network capacity to ensure that its contracted provider network has the adequate capacity and availability of licensed providers to offer enrollees appointments that meet time elapsed standards? 4.8 When the Plan identifies problems, does it take action to ensure appointment availability? 4.9 When the Plan identifies problems, does it monitor to assure improvements are maintained? End of Requirement : The Health Plan ensures the availability of Primary Care services. ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 12
AA-002 Requirement AA-002: The Health Plan Ensures the Availability of Specialist Services CONTRACT/STATUTORY/REGULATORY CITATIONS DHCS Two-Plan and GMC Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 6 Provider Network 1. Network Capacity Contractor shall maintain a provider network adequate to serve sixty percent (60%) of all Eligible Beneficiaries, including SPD beneficiaries, within Contractor s Service Area and provide the full scope of benefits. Contractor will increase the capacity of the network as necessary to accommodate enrollment growth beyond the sixty percent (60%). However, after the first twelve months of operation if Enrollments do not achieve seventy-five percent (75%) of the required network capacity, the Contractor s total network capacity requirement may be renegotiated. 2. Network Composition Contractor shall ensure and monitor an appropriate provider network, including primary care physicians, specialists, professional, allied, supportive paramedical personnel, and an adequate number of accessible inpatient facilities and service sites within each service area. 3. Provider to Member Ratios A. Contractor shall ensure that networks continuously satisfy the following full-time equivalent provider to Member ratios: 1) Primary Care Physicians 1:2,000 2) Total Physicians 1:1,200 DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A Attachment 6 Provider Network 1. Network Capacity Contractor shall submit a complete provider network that is adequate to provide required Covered Services for Eligible Beneficiaries, including SPD beneficiaries, in the Service Area. Contractor will increase the capacity of the network as necessary to accommodate growth. 2. Provider to Member Ratios A. Contractor shall ensure that networks continuously satisfy the following full-time equivalent provider to Member ratios: 1) Primary Care Physicians 1:2,000 2) Total Physicians 1:1,200 DHCS Two-Plan and GMC Contracts, Exhibit A, Attachment 9 Access and Availability 1. General Requirement Contractor shall ensure that each Member has a Primary Care Provider who is available and physically present at the service site for sufficient time to ensure access for the assigned Member when medically required. This requirement does not preclude an appropriately licensed ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 13 AA-002
AA-002 professional from being a substitute for the Primary Care Provider in the event of vacation, illness, or other unforeseen circumstances. Contractor shall ensure Members access to specialists for Medically Necessary Covered Services. Contractor shall ensure adequate staff within the Service Area, including physicians, administrative and other support staff directly and/or through Subcontracts, sufficient to assure that health services will be provided in accordance with Title 22 CCR Section 53853(a) and consistent with all specified requirements. 3. Access Requirements Contractor shall establish acceptable accessibility requirements in accordance with Title 28 CCR Section 1300.67.2.1 and as specified below. DHCS will review and approve requirements for reasonableness. Contractor shall communicate, enforce, and monitor providers compliance with these requirements. A. Appointments Contractor shall implement and maintain procedures for Members to obtain appointments for routine care, urgent care, routine specialty referral appointments, prenatal care, children s preventive periodic health assessments, and adult initial health assessments. Contractor shall also include procedures for follow-up on missed appointments. B. First Prenatal Visit Contractor shall ensure that the first prenatal visit for a pregnant Member will be available within two (2) weeks upon request. C. Waiting Times Contractor shall develop, implement, and maintain a procedure to monitor waiting times in the providers' offices, telephone calls (to answer and return), and time to obtain various types of appointments indicated in Paragraph A. Appointments, above. F. Unusual Specialty Services Contractor shall arrange for the provision of seldom used or unusual specialty services from specialists outside the network if unavailable within Contractor s network, when determined Medically Necessary. 4. Access Standards Contractor shall ensure the provision of acceptable accessibility standards in accordance with Title 28 CCR Section 1300.67.2.2 and as specified below. Contractor shall communicate, enforce, and monitor providers compliance with these standards. A. Appropriate Clinical Timeframes Contractor shall ensure that Members are offered appointments for covered health care services within a time period appropriate for their condition. B. Standards for Timely Appointments Members must be offered appointments within the following timeframes: 1. Urgent care appointment for services that do not require prior authorization within 48 hours of a request; 2. Urgent appointment for services that do require prior authorization within 96 hours of a request; 3. Non-urgent primary care appointments within ten (10) business days of request; 4. Appointment with a specialist within 15 business days of request; ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 14 AA-002
AA-002 5. Non-urgent appointment for ancillary services for the diagnosis or treatment of injury, illness, or other health condition within 15 business days of request. C. Shortening or Expanding Timeframes Timeframes may be shortened or extended as clinically appropriate by a qualified health care professional acting within the scope of his or her practice consistent with professionally recognized standards of practice. If the timeframe is extended, it must be documented within the Member s medical record that a longer timeframe will not have a detrimental impact on the Member s health. D. Provider Shortage Contractor shall arrange for a Member to receive timely care as necessary for their health condition if timely appointments within the time and distance standards required in Attachment 6, Provision 8 of this contract are not available. Contractor shall refer Members to, or assist Members in locating, available and accessible contracted providers in neighboring service areas for obtaining health care services in a timely manner appropriate for the Member s needs. 16. Out-of-Network Providers A. If Contractor s network is unable to provide necessary services covered under the Contract to a particular Member, Contractor must adequately and timely cover these services out of network for the Member, for as long as the entity is unable to provide them. Out-ofnetwork providers must coordinate with the entity with respect to payment. Contractor must ensure that cost to the Member is not greater than it would be if the services were furnished within the network. DHCS COHS Contract, Exhibit A, Attachment 9 Access and Availability 1. General Requirement Contractor shall ensure that each Member has a Primary Care Provider who is available and physically present at the service site for sufficient time to ensure access for the assigned Member to the Primary Care Provider. This requirement does not preclude an appropriately licensed professional from being a substitute for the Primary Care Provider in the event of vacation, illness, or other unforeseen circumstances. Contractor shall ensure Members access to Specialists for Medically Necessary Covered Services. Contractor shall ensure adequate staff within the Service Area, including Physicians, administrative and other support staff directly and/or through Subcontracts, sufficient to assure that health services will be provided in accordance with this Contract and applicable law. 3. Access Requirements Contractor shall establish acceptable accessibility standards in accordance with Title 28 CCR Section 1300.67.2 and as specified below. DHCS will review and approve standards for reasonableness. Contractor shall ensure that Contracting Providers offer hours of operation similar to commercial Members or comparable to Medi-Cal FFS, if the provider serves only Medi-Cal Members. Contractor shall communicate, enforce, and monitor providers compliance with these standards. A. Appointments Contractor shall implement and maintain procedures for Members to obtain appointments for routine care, Urgent Care, routine specialty referral appointments, prenatal care, children s preventive periodic health assessments, and adult initial health assessments. Contractor shall also include procedures for follow-up on missed appointments. ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 15 AA-002
AA-002 (1) Appropriate Clinical Timeframes: Contractor shall ensure that Members are offered appointments for covered health care services within a time period appropriate for their condition. (2) Standards for Timely Appointments: Members must be offered appointments within the following timeframes: a) Urgent care appointment for services that do not require prior authorization within 48 hours of a request; b) Urgent appointment for services that do require prior authorization within 96 hours of a request; c) Non-urgent primary care appointments within ten (10) business days of request; d) Appointment with a specialist within 15 business days of request; e) Non-urgent appointment for ancillary services for the diagnosis or treatment of injury, illness, or other health condition within 15 business days of request. (3) Shortening or Expanding Timeframes Timeframes may be shortened or extended as clinically appropriate by a qualified health care professional acting within the scope of his or her practice consistent with professionally recognized standards of practice. If the timeframe is extended, it must be documented within the Member s medical record that a longer timeframe will not have a detrimental impact on the Member s health. (4) Provider Shortage Contractor shall be required to arrange for a Member to receive timely care as necessary for their health condition if timely appointments within the time and distance standards required in Attachment 6, Provision 8 of this contract are not available. Contractor shall refer Members to, or assist Members in locating, available and accessible contracted providers in neighboring service areas for obtaining health care services in a timely manner. B. First Prenatal Visit Contractor shall ensure that the first prenatal visit for a pregnant Member will be available within 10 business days upon request. C. Waiting Times Contractor shall develop, implement, and maintain a procedure to monitor waiting times in the providers' offices, telephone calls (to answer and return), and time to obtain various types of appointments indicated in subparagraph A. Appointments, above. G. Specialty Services Contractor shall arrange for the provision of specialty services from specialists outside the network if unavailable within Contractor s network, when determined Medically Necessary. 16. Out-of-Network Providers A. If Contractor s network is unable to provide necessary medical services covered under the contract to a particular Member, Contractor must adequately and timely cover these services out of network for the Member, for as long as the entity is unable to provide them. Out-of-network providers must coordinate with the entity with respect to payment. Contractor must ensure that cost to the Member is no greater than it would be if the services were furnished within the network. ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 16 AA-002
AA-002 28 CCR 1300.67.2(d)-(f) Within each service area of a plan, basic health care services and specialized health care services shall be readily available and accessible to each of the plan's enrollees; (d) The ratio of enrollees to staff, including health professionals, administrative and other supporting staff, directly or through referrals, shall be such as to reasonably assure that all services offered by the plan will be accessible to enrollees on an appropriate basis without delays detrimental to the health of the enrollees. There shall be at least one full-time equivalent physician to each one thousand two hundred (1,200) enrollees and there shall be approximately one full-time equivalent primary care physician for each two thousand (2,000) enrollees, or an alternative mechanism shall be provided by the plan to demonstrate an adequate ratio of physicians to enrollees; (e) A plan shall provide accessibility to medically required specialists who are certified or eligible for certification by the appropriate specialty board, through staffing, contracting, or referral; (f) Each health care service plan shall have a documented system for monitoring and evaluating accessibility of care, including a system for addressing problems that develop, which shall include, but is not limited to, waiting time and appointments. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.1(a) Subject to subsections (a) and (b) of this section, a plan may rely, for the purposes of satisfying the requirements for geographic accessibility, on the standards of accessibility set forth in Item H of Section 1300.51 and in Section 1300.67.2. (a) If, given the facts and circumstances with regard to any portion of its service area, a plan's standards of accessibility adopted pursuant to Item H of Section 1300.51 and/or Section 1300.67.2 are unreasonably restrictive, or the service area is within a county with a population of 500,000 or fewer, and is within a county that, as of January 1, 2002, has two or fewer full service health care service plans in the commercial market, the plan may propose alternative standards of accessibility for that portion of its service area. The plan shall do so by including such alternative standards in writing in its plan license application or in a notice of material modification. The plan shall also include a description of the reasons justifying the less restrictive standards based on those facts and circumstances. If the Department rejects the plan's proposal, the Department shall inform the plan of the Department's reason for doing so. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(b)(2) (b) Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply. 2. Appointment waiting time means the time from the initial request for health care services by an enrollee or the enrollee s treating provider to the earliest date offered for the appointment for services inclusive of time for obtaining authorization from the plan or completing any other condition or requirement of the plan or its contracting providers. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(c)(1) and (2) (c) Standards for Timely Access to Care. (1) Plans shall provide or arrange for the provision of covered health care services in a timely manner appropriate for the nature of the enrollee s condition consistent with good professional practice. Plans shall establish and maintain provider networks, policies, procedures and quality assurance monitoring systems and processes sufficient to ensure compliance with this clinical appropriateness standard. ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 17 AA-002
AA-002 (2) Plans shall ensure that all plan and provider processes necessary to obtain covered health care services, including but not limited to prior authorization processes, are completed in a manner that assures the provision of covered health care services to enrollees in a timely manner appropriate for the enrollee s condition and in compliance with the requirements of this section. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(c)(5)(D), (F), and (G) (5) In addition to ensuring compliance with the clinical appropriateness standard set forth at subsection (c)(1), each plan shall ensure that its contracted provider network has adequate capacity and availability of licensed health care providers to offer enrollees appointments that meet the following timeframes: (D) Non-urgent appointments with specialist physicians: within fifteen business days of the request for appointment, except as provided in (G) and (H); (G) The applicable waiting time for a particular appointment may be extended if the referring or treating licensed health care provider, or the health professional providing triage or screening services, as applicable, acting within the scope of his or her practice and consistent with professionally recognized standards of practice, has determined and noted in the relevant record that a longer waiting time will not have a detrimental impact on the health of the enrollee. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(c)(7) (7) Plans shall ensure they have sufficient numbers of contracted providers to maintain compliance with the standards established by this section. (A) This section does not modify the requirements regarding provider-to-enrollee ratio or geographic accessibility established by Sections 1300.51, 1300.67.2 or 1300.67.2.1 of Title 28. (B) A plan operating in a service area that has a shortage of one or more types of providers shall ensure timely access to covered health care services as required by this section, including applicable time-elapsed standards, by referring enrollees to, or, in the case of a preferred provider network, by assisting enrollees to locate, available and accessible contracted providers in neighboring service areas consistent with patterns of practice for obtaining health care services in a timely manner appropriate for the enrollee s health needs. Plans shall arrange for the provision of specialty services from specialists outside the plan s contracted network if unavailable within the network, when medically necessary for the enrollee s condition. Enrollee costs for medically necessary referrals to non-network providers shall not exceed applicable co-payments, coinsurance and deductibles. This requirement does not prohibit a plan or its delegated provider group from accommodating an enrollee s preference to wait for a later appointment from a specific contracted provider. 28 CCR 1300.67.2.2(d)(1), (2)(A) and (D), and (3) (d) Quality Assurance Processes. Each plan shall have written quality assurance systems, policies and procedures designed to ensure that the plan s provider network is sufficient to provide accessibility, availability, and continuity of covered health care services as required by the Act and this section. In addition to the requirements established by Section 1300.70 of Title 28, a plan s quality assurance program shall address: (1) Standards for the provision of covered services in a timely manner consistent with the requirements of this section. (2) Compliance monitoring policies and procedures, filed for the Department s review and approval, designed to accurately measure the accessibility and availability of contracted providers, which shall include: ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY February 11, 2015 Page 18 AA-002